Pennsylvania Eviction Process for Landlords

To evict a tenant in Pennsylvania, you give a written notice to quit, file a complaint with the local magisterial district judge, win a hearing, and have a constable or sheriff carry out an order for possession. The state notice is 10 days for unpaid rent, and 15 or 30 days for a lease violation or an ended lease, depending on whether the lease term is more than one year. A written lease can shorten or waive these state notices, but CARES Act-covered rentals require at least 30 days' notice to vacate. In Philadelphia, cases go to Municipal Court, and you must first go through the city's Eviction Diversion Program and hold a valid rental license.

How much notice do you have to give?

Section 501 of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 sets the state notice to quit periods. Each runs from the date you serve the notice.

Waivers. The same section lets the state notice be shorter, or waived entirely, if the lease says so. This does not waive the CARES Act's 30-day notice-to-vacate requirement for covered dwellings, including rentals with federally backed mortgages or participating in covered housing programs. Check your lease for a waiver clause before you count days, and see Pennsylvania lease provisions for what a lease can contain. In Philadelphia, a lease shorter than one year also needs the city's 30-day good cause notice described below.

Service. You can hand the notice to the tenant, leave it at the main building on the property, or post it in a visible place on the unit. Keep a copy and a note of the date and method of service.

Filing with the magisterial district judge

Outside Philadelphia, landlord-tenant cases start in the office of the magisterial district judge (MDJ) for the property's location.

1. File the complaint after the notice period ends. The complaint states the rent owed, any damages, and the reason you are entitled to possession.
2. Wait for service. The MDJ sets a hearing 7 to 15 days after filing. A sheriff or constable serves the complaint, and posting it on the property is required in every case.
3. Attend the hearing. The MDJ will not enter a default judgment in a possession case. Even if the tenant does not show up, you must appear and prove your case. Bring the lease, the notice to quit, proof of service, and a rent ledger.
4. Judgment. The MDJ decides at the end of the hearing or within 3 days, and mails both sides notice of the judgment and appeal rights. A judgment can cover possession, unpaid rent, and damages.

If the case is based only on unpaid rent, the tenant can stop the eviction at any time before the officer carries it out by paying the rent in arrears and court costs.

Appeals and rent escrow

Either side can appeal an MDJ judgment for a residential unit to the court of common pleas within 10 days after the judgment is entered. A tenant with a protection from abuse order or similar evidence of domestic violence has 30 days.

An appeal does not automatically keep the tenant in the unit. To stop the eviction while the appeal is pending, a "supersedeas," the tenant must:

• Deposit the lesser of three months' rent or the rent in arrears found by the MDJ when filing the appeal
• Keep depositing the monthly rent every 30 days while the appeal is pending

A tenant who cannot afford the deposit can file an affidavit. If the appeal month's rent is unpaid, the tenant must pay one-third of the monthly rent at filing, then two-thirds within 20 days of filing, then the full rent every 30 days after filing. If that month's rent is already paid, no initial deposit is required; escrow payments begin 30 days after filing and continue every 30 days. If a required payment is missed, you can ask the prothonotary (the common pleas court clerk) to end the supersedeas, and the eviction can go forward. While the appeal is pending, you can also apply to the court to release escrowed rent to you for the tenant's use of the unit.

Order for possession and constable timing

If no appeal stops the case, ask the MDJ for an order for possession after the 10th day following the judgment, and no later than 120 days after it. The constable or sheriff serves the order on the tenant. The officer can remove the tenant on or after the 11th day after service, and the order expires if it is not carried out within 60 days of being issued.

A typical uncontested timeline when the 10-day state notice applies and the rental is not covered by the CARES Act, counting from the day you serve the notice:

Delays in service, continuances, and appeals add time.

Belongings left behind. Once the order for possession is carried out, property left in the unit can be treated as abandoned. Before you remove or dispose of it, mail the tenant a written notice of their rights by first class mail to the leased premises and any forwarding or emergency address they supplied. The tenant has 10 days from the notice's postmark to retrieve the items or request storage. If requested, you must store them for up to 30 days from that postmark, at the tenant's cost. See how to handle a tenant's abandoned property.

Philadelphia's added steps

Philadelphia evictions are heard in Municipal Court, which adds several requirements before and after filing.

Before filing:

1. Eviction Diversion Program. Send the tenant the city's Notice of Diversion Rights and apply to the program. The court requires you to participate and wait 30 days before filing if the issue is not resolved, or 90 days after the last covered month if you received payment through the program's financial assistance.
2. Rental license. Bring the current rental license and every license covering the months for which you claim rent. The court treats these as required documents.
3. Certificate of Rental Suitability. Bring the completed certificate you gave the tenant at the start of the tenancy, plus a lead-safe certificate if one applies.
4. Good cause for short leases. For a lease of less than one year, including one that rolled into month-to-month, the city's Fair Housing Commission requires good cause, such as habitual nonpayment, a material lease breach, or an owner move-in, and at least 30 days' written notice before you terminate or refuse to renew.

After judgment: Unlike an MDJ, Municipal Court enters a default judgment if a party is late or does not appear. After the 10-day appeal period, file for a writ of possession and take it to the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office. Eleven days after the writ issues, you can obtain the alias writ, the final writ before the lockout is scheduled. The eviction must be completed within 180 days of the judgment unless the court extends it.

Lockouts and self-help

Pennsylvania's eviction rules give the job of removing a tenant to the constable or sheriff who serves the order for possession, or in Philadelphia, the Sheriff's Office. Philadelphia's Municipal Court states that a landlord may not change the locks, cut off utilities, or remove a tenant's possessions. If a Philadelphia tenant is locked out, police can order the tenant let back in when you cannot show a court order.

For how this process compares with other states, see the general steps for eviction proceedings. If the tenant moves out on their own, the deposit rules in Pennsylvania security deposit laws apply.